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Last update:
02/25/2008

Bar Harbor Brass Faculty

Blair Bollinger, Music Director

Blair Bollinger enjoys a varied musical career as a trombonist, a conductor and a teacher. He is the Bass Trombonist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He joined Orchestra in 1986 at the invitation of Music Director Riccardo Muti and plays the full Orchestra schedule of more than 160 concerts each year along with many recordings and international tours.  As a soloist, Mr. Bollinger has performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Atlanta Symphony, National Symphony of Taiwan and others. He has been a guest artist at many international and domestic trombone conferences. Mr. Bollinger has performed recitals and given master classes in Brazil, Chile, China, Holland, Israel, Japan, Poland, Taiwan and throughout the United States. As a student, he won the 1986 Philadelphia Orchestra Senior Student Competition, and remains the only trombonist to win this competition since it began in 1934 as well as the only bass trombone soloist ever with the Philadelphia Orchestra.  His recordings include a solo disc, “Fancy Free”, for d’Note Records, hailed by American Record Guide as “The recording I’ve been waiting for ... an amazing display of Bollinger’s virtuoso skills.” Other recordings are 2 discs with his trombone quartet "Four of a Kind" and a Gabrieli disc with the Canadian Brass. With “Four of a Kind”, Mr. Bollinger has toured Japan and been featured in several trombone conferences. His arrangements of music for trombone are published by Ensemble Publications in New York and Alphonse Leduc in Paris.  Mr. Bollinger is a frequent guest conductor with the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia and leads the Curtis Brass and Percussion Ensemble. Mr. Bollinger also has conducted concerts with his daughter, Robyn, as a violin soloist both in Philadelphia and with the DeKalb (GA) Symphony.  A 1986 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, he studied with Charles Vernon and Glenn Dodson. Mr. Bollinger is now on faculty at Curtis and Temple University. In addition to teaching private lessons, he conducts and coaches chamber music. He has spent recent summers performing and teaching in the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming and the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina.
 

Chris Martin, Trumpet

Christopher Martin, originally from Marietta, Georgia, joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as Principal Trumpet in 2005.  He was Principal Trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra the from 2001-2005, after three years as Associate Principal Trumpet of The Philadelphia Orchestra.  He received his Bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1997 under the trumpet instruction of professors Charles Geyer and Barbara Butler.  Prior to joining The Philadelphia Orchestra in October 1997, Mr. Martin was also offered the Principal Trumpet position with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.  Mr. Martin has been an Affiliate Professor of Trumpet at at Emory University in Atlanta and Temple University in Philadelphia, and gives master classes at music conservatories and colleges around the nation, including the Manhattan School of Music.  He has performed as Principal Trumpet with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, and the Grand Teton Music Festival.  Mr. Martin, a native of Marietta, Georgia, comes from a musical family.  His father, Freddy Martin, is a band director for a prestigious Georgia private school, and his mother, Lynda Martin, sings in the Atlanta Symphony Chorus.  While a member of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, Mr. Martin trained with then-Atlanta Symphony Orchestra trumpeter Larry Black.  He later received his bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance in 1997 from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where his primary teachers were Charles Geyer and Barbara Butler.  As Principal Trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, he can be heard on a number of recent recordings, including the ASO’s 2003 Grammy Award-winning recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony conducted by Robert Spano.
 

Adam Unsworth, Horn

Adam Unsworth joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as Fourth Horn in September of 1998.  Prior to his appointment in Philadelphia, he spent three years as Second Horn of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.  Mr. Unsworth received his formal training at Northwestern University, where he studied with former Chicago Symphony Orchestra members Norman Schweikert and Gail Williams, and completed his graduate work with Douglas Hill at the University of Wisconsin Madison.  An active recitalist and clinician, Mr. Unsworth has appeared at many universities throughout the United States and has made solo and chamber appearances at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall.  In 2000, The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music named him their Distinguished Alumnus of the Year.  In addition to his orchestral pursuits, he enjoys performing and composing in the jazz idiom, woodworking, and is an avid marathon runner.

Check out Mr. Unsworth's new website and solo CD at:
www.AdamUnsworth.com
 

Matthew Vaughn, Trombone, Euphonium

Matthew Vaughn joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in September 1999 as Associate-Principal Trombone.  He was Assistant Principal and Acting Principal trombone of the San Antonio Symphony from 1997 through 1999.  Prior to joining the San Antonio Symphony, Mr. Vaughn served in the United States Air Force Concert Band in Washington, D.C., from 1993-1997.  He has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony and National Symphony and has been featured as a soloist with the Lafayette Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Temple University Band, the United States Air Force Band, the Indiana University Symphony Orchestra, and the Richmond (Indiana) Symphony.  Born in Dallas and raised in Richmond, Indiana, Mr. Vaughn earned a Bachelor of Music degree with high distinction and a Performer’s Certificate from Indiana University in 1992, continuing with graduate work in conducting at Indiana University and George Mason University.  He taught trombone and was a member of the faculty brass quintet at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and currently teaches at Temple University.  His former teachers include M. Dee Stewart, Milton Stevens, and David Brumfield.
 

Stephen Dumaine, Tuba

Stephen Dumaine grew up in Burrilville, Rhode Island, and during his high school years he was a member of the Greater Boston Youth Symphony, winning a concerto competition to appear as soloist with them when he was eighteen. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School, and was principal tuba in Spain's Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia during the 1995-96 season. Mr. Dumaine then returned to the United States, where his orchestral experience includes positions with the New World Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, and the Alabama Symphony, and substitute work with the New York City Ballet Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. National and international festival experience includes Tanglewood, Aspen, National Repertory Orchestra, SHIRA Festival (Israel), and Pacific Music Festival (Japan).  Mr. Dumaine joined the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. as Principal Tuba in 2004.
 

Andrew Bove, Tuba

Andrew Bove is from Massapequa Park, New York, and now enjoys a diverse career as a freelance musician based in New York City. As an orchestral musician, Mr. Bove has performed with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Westchester Philharmonic, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Prometheus Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, as well as many others. He is also in demand as a chamber musician, and has performed and recorded with numerous groups including the Extension Ensemble, the American Brass Quintet, and Sequitur. He has also recorded for television, and was recently featured by Hip-Bone music in their series of CDs and instructional DVD for young musicians. From 1999-2002, he was the recipient of the orchestral tuba fellowship from the Aspen Music Festival and has performed at many other festivals, including the Tanglewood Music Center, the Music Academy of the West, and the Pierre Monteux School. Mr. Bove is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Northwestern University, and is currently a faculty member at Sarah Lawrence College and Kean University.
 

Jon Nelson, Trumpet

Jon Nelson, trumpet with the Meridian Arts Ensemble in New York, and currently Assistant Professor of the State University of New York at Buffalo, maintains an active career as performer, producer and collaborator. He has served as principal trumpet for the Festival Aix en Provence de Musique in France under the direction of Pierre Boulez, and the Mineria Festival Orchestra in Mexico City. His arrangements have been performed and recorded by the Cologne Stadt Ballet, the Ethos Percussion Group, and Dweezil Zappa; he has recorded for Channel Classics Records, Barking Pumpkin, BMG/RCA, Bridge, Cuniform, Peer, New World Records, Vandenburg, and CRI. Mr. Nelson holds a B.M. from The Juilliard School where he studied with Mark Gould. He has also studied with Laurie Frink in New York, and Antoine Cure in France.


Wayne J. du Maine, Trumpet

Wayne J. du Maine, Trumpet, currently performs with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Brooklyn and Long Island Philharmonics, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, New York City Opera, New York Big Brass, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Manhattan Brass Quintet and with contemporary music ensembles such as Speculum Musicae, Sospeso, and ST-X Xenakis. He has worked with a broad spectrum of artists ranging from Leonard Bernstein and Leonard Slatkin to Hank Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Patti Lupone and Audra MacDonald. Wayne can be heard on recordings with the New York Philharmonic, Met Opera Orchestra, numerous commercials, motion pictures and with Prince on his New Power Soul recording. Mr. du Maine is on the faculty of Columbia University and the Music Advancement Program at the Juilliard School where he teaches trumpet and conducts the MAP Orchestra. Wayne is also on the conducting faculty of the Elisabeth Murrow String Camp and the Summer Arts Institute at Stuyvesant High School in lower Manhattan. Wayne has performed at music festivals in Aspen, Spoleto, Tanglewood, Vermont Mozart, Bowdoin, Marlboro, and the Berkshire Choral Festival. He recently completed a two year run playing and conducting Fiddler On The Roof on Broadway. He has been a member of the pit orchestras for Titanic, Music Man and Man of La Mancha. Highlights of recent performances include the Boys Choir of Harlem, Take 6, Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society, the Pittsburgh Collective, American Ballet Theater, Bernadette Peters and Pink Baby Monster (rap debut!). A member of two softball leagues in Central Park, Wayne resides in Manhattan with his wife, Sharon.
 

Joy Hodges Branagan, Horn

A native of Marietta, Georgia, Joy Hodges Branagan has been playing horn professionally since 1997, while still a student at the Manhattan School of Music. While living in New York, Joy won positions with the Albany Symphony and the New Haven Symphony and was an extra musician with the New Jersey Symphony. Upon graduation in May of 1998, she won a position as Second Horn in the San Antonio Symphony, where she played until 2003. While in San Antonio, Joy was a member of the San Antonio Brass and was on the faculty at St. Mary’s University, as well as being active as a performer and teacher throughout South Texas. In 1999 she was invited to be a guest artist and lecturer at the International Horn Workshop in Athens, GA, and was selected in 2002 to participate in the Barry Tuckwell Seminar in Columbus, GA, hosted by the internationally acclaimed horn soloist. In December of 2003 Joy moved to Washington D.C. and immediately began playing with notable symphony orchestras in the area including the Baltimore Symphony, Richmond Symphony, and the orchestra of Baltimore Opera. In addition to an active freelance career with groups such as Burning River Brass (Cleveland, OH), the Key West Symphony (FL), and the Harrisburg Symphony (PA), Joy is currently Second Horn with the Richmond Symphony. Joy received her musical training from The University of Georgia (Bachelor of Music in Education), and the Manhattan School of Music (Master of Music in Orchestral Performance), where she was awarded the 1998 Cecil Collins Award for Outstanding Brass Performance. Her primary teachers were Dr. Jean Martin-Williams of The University of Georgia and Erik Ralske of the New York Philharmonic; and performance coaches have included Jerome Ashby of the New York Philharmonic, Brice Andrus of the Atlanta Symphony, and Bill Ver Meulen of the Houston Symphony.
 

Chris Branagan, Trombone

Chris Branagan enjoys a diverse career as an educator, soloist, orchestral, and chamber musician. After completing an appointment in 1999 as Assistant Principal Trombone with the San Antonio Symphony, he joined the faculty of the University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas Lutheran University serving as adjunct professor of trombone from 1999 to 2003. Chris currently serves as tenor trombonist with the US Army Band, Pershing’s Own, in Washington DC. Chris made his Kennedy Center debut in August of 2004, in a Millennium Stage chamber performance, and has since performed with the Kennedy Center Opera House orchestra in three productions in 2005 and 2006, including a national radio broadcast. He has won prizes in solo competitions of the International Trombone Association and the IWBC, and in 2001 was selected as one of twelve tenor trombonists from an international pool of applicants to participate in the 2001 Alessi Seminar, hosted by New York Philharmonic Principal Trombonist Joseph Alessi. He maintains an active schedule as a performer and educator throughout much of the US as an Artist/Clinician with the Edwards Instrument Co. Chris holds degrees from Texas Tech University (B.M.) and a Master of Music degree from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, on an award from Her Majesty the Queen Mother. While studying at the RSAMD, he won every solo and chamber prize available to brass musicians, including an apprenticeship position with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and a solo performance with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.